After Effects
by musicmixer08
Summary: Pepper came to the mansion to find Tony on the ground, huddled against the wall. What's going on? I'm horrible with summaries. Please read! It's my first Pepperony fanfic! Right after Tony comes home from Afghanistan. Warning: PTSD mentions


Hey guys! I hope you like this story! It's my first Pepperony so hope it's okay! Also, would you guys want this to be a one-shot or longer? Please leave a review below and let me know! Thanks and happy reading! :) (I apologize that nothing has line breakers, bolded, italicized, etc. For some reason it won't let me :p) Peppers POV "Finally the day is done," I thought to myself on the drive home. That was way too many meetings for one day. I pulled into the driveway of Tony's mansion. Ever since he's come back from Afghanistan he's had me stay here with him (in separate rooms of course) and ever since he came back, he's been acting really….strange. It really scares me because I love him too much to lose him to anything again. I know that it would never happen between us because I feel like I'll be one of his other women that he's thrown out and I don't want that to happen to me. As I got out of my car, I noticed the mansion was dark and it's never dark here. I quickened my pace so I could see what was going on. I walked in the door to a dark living room. "Tony?" I called out to the blackness. Nothing. Where can he be? I continued to say his name through the whole house. I finally made my way down to his workshop; the last place he could be. I typed in my passcode on the glass to get in. The door made an unlocking noise and I went in. "Tony?" I said quieter. I looked around and seen him huddled by the wall next to his cars. I practically ran to him but stopped short. "Tony, is everything all right?" All he did was sit there with his hands around his neck and his knees tucked in as close as they could. I came a little closer and noticed his heavy labored breathing and his noticeable shake. I sat down closer to him, but not by him. I wracked my mind trying to figure out what was wrong. "Come on Pepper think! Try to piece the last few days together to see what led to this!" I started thinking and it just dawned on me. He's spent hours down here which could mean he's trying to avoid thinking of something. He's avoided large amounts of water within the past week and seems as if he hasn't slept in forever. It has to be PTSD and he's having an anxiety attack right now. But now I have to figure out what to do. I slowly moved closer to him and eventually was right next to him. "Tony, it's me, Pepper? Can you hear me?" I asked. Nothing came back. I slowly put my hand on his back and as soon as I made contact he about jumped out of his skin. He jumped up and backed away with wide eyes. "Go away! Don't touch me, I haven't done anything wrong! Please," he said. His "please" was heartbreaking; he was on the verge of tears. "Tony, please it's me! You're scaring me!" I pleaded; he looked at me still wide eyed with panic written on his face, "You're at your home in Malibu. I'm not going to hurt you, see?" I held my hands up to show him I had nothing. He continued to back away. Maybe it wasn't I was going to hurt him with anything I could hold, maybe he thought I (or whoever he thought I was) was going water-board him again (who knew what else they did to him in that cave). I walked over to the only sink in the workshop and put my hand in there and pulled it back out to show him there was no water in the sink. "See? There's nothing in there, I promise," I told him. I started walking over to him slowly. He continued to stare at me while I walked over. I came up to him and put my hand on his arms and waited for his reaction. After standing there for a minute, I felt him muscles relax and heard him choke. I looked up and saw him crying. Within seconds he was falling to his knees, so I caught him just in time so he wouldn't hurt himself. I lowered him down with myself and put his upper body in my lap and rubbed his back and waited for him to calm down some. All I could keep telling him was "it's okay, shhh." After about 20 minutes of sobs he finally was starting to calm down to just sniffles. Eventually the silence was broken. "I'm sorry," he said barely audible above a whisper. "Tony, there's nothing to be sorry about, it's not your fault," I told him. "But I scared you and then all this happened," he mumbled. "Don't worry, it's all okay now," I said again. We sat there again for a while in the same position. "How long has this been going on?" I asked. He looked up at me like he didn't want to say. "Ever since I got back," he said softly. I looked at him in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've helped you," I said in shock. "I didn't want you to worry…" he said. "I won't worry too much, don't worry. I want to help you," I told him. "Can I tell you something Pepper?" he asked, automatically changing the subject. I nodded for him to go on. "You know Afghanistan really changed me," he started as he got to an upright position, "I experienced things that I hope no one ever has to experience. There are some things I left out when I told you what happened over there because I'm not ready to tell you. But I really got to thinking about my life and about all those women from over the years and how wrong that was and that my drinking habits were wrong too. When I was really depressed back in the cave I always thought to myself 'God must've gave you a second chance to make this all right again and this thing is to remind you that you need to stay on the right path.' I still hate it though, I'm constantly in pain with this and breathing is totally different with it. I know something's wrong with me Pepper, I just don't want to admit it. What just happened has happened before, I just didn't tell you. I know I can trust you Pepper," he told me as he paused. "I'm so scared to tell you this because I don't know how you'll react. But I have to tell you. I love you Pepper and not like how I thought I loved those other women. You make me feel amazing and that I can get through this for you, because I know you want me to get through this," he said as a tear slid down my cheek. I didn't even know how to react to what he just said. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked since he noticed the tear on my cheek. He wiped the tear away with his thumb. "No you didn't, Tony. I was never going to tell you but I love you too," I laughed. All of a sudden we both busted out laughing; both relieved from what we just said to each other. "Can you promise me something, Tony?" I asked, still laughing some. "Yeah," he said. "You need to let me help you with this and that I won't be one of those other girls?" He came over to me and hugged me saying, "Yes Pepper and you will never ever be one of those other girls." Don't forget to leave a review! 


End file.
